Prefabricated pump jack foundation



Aug' 29, 1961 H. D. HURD 2,998,216

PREFABRICATED PUMP JACK FOUNDATION Filed Feb. 9. 1959 H15 HEENT This invention relates to improvements in portable foundation units, and more particularly to portable foundation units for use in the oil fields for mounting pump jacks and the like, and which units may be used singly or in multiple, as the particular pump jack to be mounted requires.

It has been the practice heretofore to mount heavy pieces of pumping equipment on stationary foundations, which required excavation, the building of forms, and the pouring of concrete, with the ensuing waiting period for the concrete to set and to properly harden, before a pump jack could be placed thereon for use. Since the element of time is of great value in producing oil wells, the operation of preparing a foundation and setting the pump jack usually required many days, thereby resulting in the loss of production time, which might mean the loss of several thousand dollars.

Since time is of the essence in producing oil from a well, under present circumstances, it is desirable to be able to set up and place in operation, a pump jack, the same day the well is completed so that the production of oil may be started without delay.

The present portable foundation units, which are precast, may be set in place in such multiples and the particular pumping operation requires, to provide the necessary weight and footing and the stability to support the pump jack, which pump jack is bolted directly to the precast foundation without delay, thereby enabling the setting of the pump jack in a matter of two to three hours, which will pump deep wells as readily as would a pump jack, the setting of which required a week or more, in the preparation of the foundation, the erection, and completion.

The present pump jack foundation units are constructed so that they may be standardized into about three basic sizes, which will provide suitable mounting for pump jacks from the smallest to the largest.

Due to the heavy impact and to the vibration caused by the pump jack during the pumping of an oil well, it is necessary that the concrete foundation be reinforced in such manner as to provide the utmost strength, so as to anchor and reinforce the foundation unit so that the vibration and the impact of the pump jack will not not cause disintegration of the concrete or cause the reinforcing members to break away from the concrete or from the support beam.

An object of this invention is to provide a pump jack foundation unit which is suiciently light to be handled by means of truck and winching equipment, but which is sufficiently heavy, so that when used in multiples, will securely hold the pump jack in fixed relation with respect to the well being pumped.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable foundation unit for a pump jack, which is made of concrete and reinforced with steel, and wherein the States Patent steel reinforcing members are integrally connected to a support beam which is cast integral within the concrete foundation unit, on which unit, a pump jack or the like jack or the like, which may be constructed as a unit,

with a structural support member may be subsequently apertured to enable anchor bolts to be tted therein.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a foundation unit for a pump jack or the like, .which ,is

rif .t ICC extremely durable, and which may be readily removed from the well site when its usefulness at that particular location has been served, and moved to another location for further use. v

With these objects in mind and others which will become manifest as the description proceeds, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts in the several views thereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the pump jack foundation unit, with parts broken away and shown in section to illustrate the details of construction;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal, sectional View taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. l, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of FIG. l, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a pump jack foundation showing the pump jack sills thereon, with the pump jack superstructure being broken away, and with parts shown in section, to show the details of construction, and to show how the pump jack is positioned on and secured to the foundation units; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, perspective view showing a portion of a pump jack sill, a hold-down clamp and a fragmentary portion of an elongated hollow structural member which is normally imbedded within the foundation unit.

With more detailed reference to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates generally a pump jack foundation unit, which is a precast, concrete, and structural unit, which unit is constructed in the following manner.

A mold cavity (not shown) is formed on la plane surface with upright forms in a manner well understood in the art of molding concrete blocks and the like, which mold cavity is of a width and length, as well as depth, to form a concrete member of the desired size.

With the above prepared mold cavity being available for casting the foundation unit, a reinforcing unit comprising lower and upper wire mesh members 2' and 4, of a size that approaches the area of the footing of the foundation unit, are placed within the mold cavity and supported above the bottom thereof, as will be brought out more fully hereinafter. A longitudinal, box structural member 6, which is preferably constructed of structural channels with the iianges thereof welded together throughout the length thereof, and with plates 8 closing the ends thereof and being welded thereto to form a water tight member, which box member 6 has transverse reinforcing rods 10 secured along the lower side thereof, as by welding, is also placed in the mold cavity and supported above the bottom thereof by pairs of upright support rods 12., which are welded or otherwise secured to the outer-most of the transverse reinforcing members 10. It is preferable that the upright support rods 12 be of a length substantially that of the thickness of the foundation unit to be cast. The mesh wire members 2 and 4 are preferably of the character known as 6" x 6 x 1A mesh, the upper member 4 being cut away along the center portion thereof to receive box structural member 6 therein in close fitting relation with respect thereto. The rods that form the respective reinforcing mesh members are secured together at the junctures thereof, and the rods of the member 4 adjacent the structural boxed member 6 are welded thereto, so as to support the member 4 along the length of the structural member 6, with the upper face of the struc'- tural box member 6 lying within the same planeas the upper face of the foundation unit 1. The wire mesh member 2 is secured to the respective upright support rods 12 the same spaced distance upward from the respective lower ends thereof, as will best be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The reinforcing wire mesh 2v is supported: above. the bottom of theV mold cavity by support'twires 16 and by welding upright members 12 to the,` reinforcing mesh wire 2, as will best be seen in FIGS. 1 and 3. Further reinforcing support wires 1S extend between the wire mesh 2 and the wire mesh 4, so asito maintain the Wire mesh members. 2 and 4 a spaced distance apart, and a spaced, distance above and below the lower and upper surfaces, respectively of the mold cavity. v The; upper wire mesh member 4 is c ut out centrally thereof to receive box structural member 6, therein with the adjacent endsi of wire mesh members 4 being in abutting relation therewith so that the ends thereof can be welded. to structural support member 6, as will best be seen in FIGS. l, 2, and 3.

When the form or mold cavity has been prepared, and afterk thek structural member 6 and the reinforcing members as set out above have been prepared so that the upperV face of the structural support member 6 will be.

in the same plane as the finished concrete foundation unit 1 and the upper ends of the upright support rods 12, concrete of the proper mixture is poured into the form. and allowed to set. After the concrete has become hardened to the desired degree, a hole 20, with a connecting slot 22 is cut in the upper face of the boxed member 6, near each end thereof, substantially as shown in FIG. l, which holes and slots are of a size which will admit the passing of a bolt head through each hole and the passing of the shank of the bolt into the respective slots 22, so the head will be retained within the hollow portion of the structural support member 6. Each slot 22 is of such length that the pump jack sills 24, whichl are made of structural material such as channel or I-bearn, will rest upon the structural support member 6 and the foundation member 1, so that the holes 26 in the lower face of the sills 24 will be in register with the slots 22. In this manner, anchor bolts may readily anchor the sills 24, of the pump jack, to the individual, transversely arranged foundation blocks 1, and if the pump jack is comparatively light, and the well shallow, a fewer number of transverse blocks 1 need be used. However, if the pump jack is heavy and the well deep, the foundation blocks may be placed in side-by-side relation for form a foundation of suflicient weight and footing to form a stable foundation for the pump jack.

The foundation units may be readily handled by passing eye-bolts into the respective slots 22 and by attaching. a swing chain hoist to the eye-bolts 22 the blocks may be handled by a winch and gin pole. When moved to the site of the well, the blocks may be lowered into place and leveled so as to provide the proper foundation for the pump jack, be it large or small.

The present pump jack foundation 1 is so constructed of reinforcing rods, wire mesh and concrete and structural iron, so positioned, and put together as to with- Vstand the impact and vibration of a pump jack, and are so constructed that they may be used under the most adverse conditions, such as in mud, salt water, or the like, and which foundation units may be moved from one site and taken to another site for reuse, thereby effecting la material saving in time, material and labor. Being of extremely sturdy construction, the foundation blocks, which are the subject matter of this application, may be Yused over a long period of time and under any conditions to which they might be subjected without ill effects thereto.

The reinforcing members imbedded Within the concrete Yand welded at points of stress to adjoining reinforcing members and structural members such as 6 and the other portions of reinforcing members, such as transverse members 10 and wire mesh members 2 and 4 are 4 secured together by support members such as 16 and 18, so as to maintain the various reinforcing elements in spaced apart, supported relation. While the support members 16 and 18 are shown to be loosely entwined aroundV the transverse reinforcing members 10 and wire mesh members 2 and 4, it is shown in this manner, however, for the sake of clarity of illustration, as the support members 16 and 18 are actually tightly entwined around the members 10, 2 and 4, to form a reinforcing unit, which when imbedded in the concrete, will resist movement in the concrete, thereby forming a strong composite structuralY unit which is sufciently rugged to withstand the impact and vibration of large, heavy pump jacks.

The pump jack sills 24 are usually of channel or I-beam material, such as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, which sills have outstanding flanges 23one end of which has a clamp 25 resting thereon, the end of which clamp bar 25 has a support 25a welded, or otherwiseV secured thereto, so upon tightening a nut on bolt 27, which bolt extends into hollow structural member 6 through the slot 22, the clamp bar 25 will be broughtl into binding relation with out-turned flange 23 of structural jack sill 24 so as to hold the structural jack sill 24 in xed relation with respect to foundation units 1.

Bolts, 27a may be used to pass through slots 22 and a hole 26 in out-turned flange 23, when such holes are correctly positioned within the flange 23 of jack sill 24, however it is. frequently desirable to install additional foundation members 1, at points along the jack sills 24 in which holes are not located. In which instance the clamp may be used to bindingly secure the sills in fixed relation with respect to foundation blocks 1, at any point in the length of the sills.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in some detail, it is to be understood that changes may be made in minor details of construction and adaptations made to different installations, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus clearly shown and described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. ln an article of manufacture, a re-usable, rectangular solid, precast concrete foundation unit for pump jacks, machinery and the like, which concrete foundation unit comprises; spaced apart pairs of upright support rods, with a pair of said respective pairs of rods lying on each side of transverse medial planes passing through said concrete foundation unit and being parallel to said other pair of upright support rods, a transverse reinforcing member extending between certain pairs of said upright support rods and being secured thereto, a longitudinal, box structural member extending across, supported on, and secured to said transverse reinforcing members, which box structural member has the upper face thereof lying substantially in a plane with the upper ends of said upright support rods, said longitudinal, box structural member having holes formed in the upper face thereof to receive the heads of bolts thereinto, said longitudinal, box structural member having elongated slots formed in the upper face thereof which slots are in communication With said respective holes, said slots being of such width as to receive the stem of said bolts therethrough and of less width than the greatest dimension of said head of the bolt to be used therein, a wire mesh reinforcing member secured to each rod of said pairs of upright support rods the same spaced distance from the respective lower ends of said rods and being of an area substantially as large as the largest dimension ofv said concrete foundation unit, and a mass of concrete surrounding said pairs of upright support rods, said transverse reinforcing members and said wire mesh reinforcing member, with the upper face of said concrete massV lying substantially in the same plane as the upper ends of said upright support rods and the upper face of said longitudinal, box structural member, and with the lower face thereof lying substantially in the same plane as the lower ends of said pairs of upright support rods.

2. An article of manufacture comprising a re-usable, 5

rectangular solid, precast, concrete foundation unit for pump jacks, machinery and the like as defined in claim 1, wherein said longitudinal, box structural member is positioned mediate the sides of said concrete foundation unit and has the ends thereof spaced inward from each end of said foundation unit, and further transverse reinforoing members secured to the lower face of said longitudinal, box structural member and extending outward therefrom, support wires extending between said further transverse reinforcing members and said wire mesh member at spaced intervals, and wherein a second wire mesh member is positioned above said rst mentioned wire mesh member and is secured to said longitudinal, box structural member and extends outward therefrom below the lower face thereof, and support wires extending between said transverse reinforcing members and said second wire mesh reinforcing member.

References Cited in the-iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,035,525 Bright Ang. 13, 1912 1,691,037 Allen Nov. 13, 1928 1,998,803 Collins Apr. 23, 1935 2,086,650 Trout July 13, 1937 2,802,632 Byers Aug. 13, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 279,559 Germany Oct. 24, 1914 

